The original Romeo and Juliet. Two lovers, torn apart by feuding family destined to anguish and unable to stop it. A simple misunderstanding and a bad assumption leaves both lover dead much alike Romeo and Juliet.
Orpheus is a legendary musician who is able to charm anything with his musical abilities. The love of his life Eurydice is tragically bitten by a snake at their wedding. She dies a agonizing death and leaves Orpheus madly depressed. However Orpheus refuses to take her death as permanent and seeks to bring her back from Hades. Orpheus travels through the underworld using his abilities to survive the twisted lands. Once he confronts Hades he convinces him to give her back from the land of the dead. He agrees on one condition - he must not look back at her all through the journey out. He agrees and they leave, he all but makes it back to earth but while she still has one foot inside the underworld he looks back - dooming her forever.
Ceyx and Alcyone
Alcyone is the daughter of Aeolus the god of wind. She is also the loving wife of Ceyx, the king of Trachis. Their relationship is reputed to be amazing by everyone in the land, they are essentially the perfect mortal couple. However they begin to call themselves Zeus and Hera jokingly as a reference to how good their relationship is. This doesn't settle well with the actual god Zeus, so he kills Ceyx while he is traveling by sea his body is found my Alycone on the coast at a later time. This depresses Alcyone so much that she kills herself. But then Zeus feels bad for ending such an eternal love and makes them into Halcyon birds.
Pygmalion and Galatea
Pygmalion is a man who detests women, he vows to never marry. He is however one of the world's finest sculptors and spends every day perfecting his magnum opus which ironically, is in fact the statue of a woman. He then falls in love with his statue after spending so much time with it and treats it as if it were a human. Venus, the god of love takes notice of this odd interaction as it is unusual (Venus is god who rarely does anything since love is a common concept) for her to see and takes pity. She makes the statue a living woman for Pygmalion which he names Galatea. Venus even goes to their eventual wedding. Their future is unknown so in a new twist of a Greek love story, happily ever after.
Baucis and Philemon
Jupiter grew bored of life in the heavens and decided to take a trip to the realm of mortals. Being the god of shelter in a foreign land he and Mercury decided to go random houses asking for help and appearing as vagabonds, they were denied each time till they got to what was seen as the poorest house. Once there the elderly couple who were Baucis and Philemon gave the gods everything they had. The gods then revealed themselves and made there shack into a glorious temple. The gods then offered the couple one wish. The couple wished to be the priests of the temple and to die together so one would never be alone. The gods were honored at the request and gave them their wish. When the mortals had there day of death, an amazing tree sprouted forth that was of two different species - oak and linden.
Endymion
Endymion is king of Ellis and is reputed to be extremely handsome. So handsome in fact that he catches the eye and affection of Selene, the goddess of the moon. They have a wonderful relationship and she bears him 50 daughters. Once he reached a certain age Selene offered him one wish, he wished to have an eternal slumber where he would never age, she agreed. So he laid asleep much to the goddess' sorrow as she embraced him eternally.
Daphne
Daphne was the definition of a indepedent woman, she was a skilled hunter who wanted nothing to do with marriage or men. Her father Peneus, god of rivers and he often asked her for a grandson. However one day Apollo saw her in the forest and chased her so he could talk to her. She made it to a river where she turned into a tree, denying apollo of his lover. He then said
"O fairest of maidens, you are lost to me," he mourned. "But at least you shall be my tree. With your leaves my victors shall wreathe their brows. You shall have your part in all my triumphs. Apollo and his laurel shall be joined together wherever songs are sung and stories are told."
Alpheus and Arethusa
Arethusa is another independent huntress who takes a bath in a river only to be seen by Alpheus another river god. She runs as far as possible but Alpheus follows out of love. Arethusa then calls upon Artemis to help her who makes Arethusa into water and sends her underground then across Greece - only to still be found by Alpheus and have there waters merge.
Eight Brief Tales of Lovers
Pyramus and Thisbe
The original Romeo and Juliet. Two lovers, torn apart by feuding family destined to anguish and unable to stop it. A simple misunderstanding and a bad assumption leaves both lover dead much alike Romeo and Juliet.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Watch an animated acting out of this sad tale:http://www.wingedsandals.com/arts/wingedsandals/storytime2.htm
Orpheus is a legendary musician who is able to charm anything with his musical abilities. The love of his life Eurydice is tragically bitten by a snake at their wedding. She dies a agonizing death and leaves Orpheus madly depressed. However Orpheus refuses to take her death as permanent and seeks to bring her back from Hades. Orpheus travels through the underworld using his abilities to survive the twisted lands. Once he confronts Hades he convinces him to give her back from the land of the dead. He agrees on one condition - he must not look back at her all through the journey out. He agrees and they leave, he all but makes it back to earth but while she still has one foot inside the underworld he looks back - dooming her forever.
Ceyx and Alcyone
Alcyone is the daughter of Aeolus the god of wind. She is also the loving wife of Ceyx, the king of Trachis. Their relationship is reputed to be amazing by everyone in the land, they are essentially the perfect mortal couple. However they begin to call themselves Zeus and Hera jokingly as a reference to how good their relationship is. This doesn't settle well with the actual god Zeus, so he kills Ceyx while he is traveling by sea his body is found my Alycone on the coast at a later time. This depresses Alcyone so much that she kills herself. But then Zeus feels bad for ending such an eternal love and makes them into Halcyon birds.
Pygmalion and Galatea
Pygmalion is a man who detests women, he vows to never marry. He is however one of the world's finest sculptors and spends every day perfecting his magnum opus which ironically, is in fact the statue of a woman. He then falls in love with his statue after spending so much time with it and treats it as if it were a human. Venus, the god of love takes notice of this odd interaction as it is unusual (Venus is god who rarely does anything since love is a common concept) for her to see and takes pity. She makes the statue a living woman for Pygmalion which he names Galatea. Venus even goes to their eventual wedding. Their future is unknown so in a new twist of a Greek love story, happily ever after.Baucis and Philemon
Jupiter grew bored of life in the heavens and decided to take a trip to the realm of mortals. Being the god of shelter in a foreign land he and Mercury decided to go random houses asking for help and appearing as vagabonds, they were denied each time till they got to what was seen as the poorest house. Once there the elderly couple who were Baucis and Philemon gave the gods everything they had. The gods then revealed themselves and made there shack into a glorious temple. The gods then offered the couple one wish. The couple wished to be the priests of the temple and to die together so one would never be alone. The gods were honored at the request and gave them their wish. When the mortals had there day of death, an amazing tree sprouted forth that was of two different species - oak and linden.
Endymion
Endymion is king of Ellis and is reputed to be extremely handsome. So handsome in fact that he catches the eye and affection of Selene, the goddess of the moon. They have a wonderful relationship and she bears him 50 daughters. Once he reached a certain age Selene offered him one wish, he wished to have an eternal slumber where he would never age, she agreed. So he laid asleep much to the goddess' sorrow as she embraced him eternally.Daphne
Daphne was the definition of a indepedent woman, she was a skilled hunter who wanted nothing to do with marriage or men. Her father Peneus, god of rivers and he often asked her for a grandson. However one day Apollo saw her in the forest and chased her so he could talk to her. She made it to a river where she turned into a tree, denying apollo of his lover. He then said
"O fairest of maidens, you are lost to me," he mourned. "But at least you shall be my tree. With your leaves my victors shall wreathe their brows. You shall have your part in all my triumphs. Apollo and his laurel shall be joined together wherever songs are sung and stories are told."Alpheus and Arethusa
Arethusa is another independent huntress who takes a bath in a river only to be seen by Alpheus another river god. She runs as far as possible but Alpheus follows out of love. Arethusa then calls upon Artemis to help her who makes Arethusa into water and sends her underground then across Greece - only to still be found by Alpheus and have there waters merge.
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